Dancing puppet



H. N. ATWELL mach s, 1951 DANCING PUPPET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 15, 1946 IL. I I I INVHNTOI. f/Aeev /V. ,qrweu M Mm;

March 6, 1951 H. N. ATWELL 2,544,124

DANCING PUPPET Filed Feb. 15, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENI'OQ Haeev /V. firm/E44 u Mvm A'rToll N115 Patented Mar. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DANCING PUPPET Harry N. Atwell, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application February 15, 1946, Serial No. 647,897

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to improvements in dancing puppets.

The object of my invention is to provide a dancing puppet which not only can be boxed at the factory in boxes constituting a portion of the assembly and having vibratory covers, but which can also, when shipped to the place of sale or use, be readily assembled and disassembled by children in a play room or kindergarten as a part of their education in mechanics.

A further object is to provide a toy including a puppet which can be made to dance on 2. vibratory part of the housing in which the puppet is stored when not in use.

A further object is to provide a dancing puppet which can be manufactured at minimum cost, shipped in sections to the place of use, in a partially manufactured condition, and manufacture and assembly completed by wholly inexperienced purchasers or users.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved dancing puppet, with the parts in assembled relation.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the back of a puppet, showing in a retracted position a socket member for the lifting rod ready for assembly.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the foot pieces.

Figure 5 is a detail view of one of the resilient connecting collars in assembled relation to two members of the puppet, fragments of which are shown in longitudinal section.

Figure 6 is a view of the box with its parts separated and the vibratory cover inverted.

Figure 7 is a view of the blank from which the body, the arms, and legs of the puppet are to be cut, with dotted lines indicating the lines of severance.

Figure 8 is a view of the split tube from which the connecting links are to be cut by the user, one severed link being also illustrated.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

A piece of cardboard. or other flat sheet-like material, cut to the general outline of the puppet head, body, arms and legs in the form of a human being and pictorially colored to illustrate eyes, nose, mouth and articles of clothing, may be severed along the dotted lines indicated in Figure '7 to produce a head and body member 10, a pair of upper arm members ll, lower arm and hand members l2, upper leg members it, and lower leg members [4. At each side of the line of severance the cardboard is provided with slots 20, one slot being preferably provided on each side of the lines of severance of the arm members, and two slots being provided on each side of the lines of severance of the leg members.

The lower end portions 2| of the members it are rectangular in form and are adapted to be pressed edgewise into undercut channels 22 formed in wooden foot pieces 23, contoured as best shown in Figure 4. The body portion at or near-shoulderheightis'piercedat 25, as indicated in Figure 3, to receive the prongs 25 of a socket member 21. The prongs 26 may be inserted through the apertures 25 and clinched to securely hold the socket member to the body of the puppet.

A rod-like handle 28 is receivable in the socket member 21 for manipulation of the puppet. The body, arm and leg members may be packed for shipment in a box 30 having top member -3! supported from the bottom of the box by U- shaped springs 32, the end portions of which are secured by staples 33 to the bottom and top of the box respectively, as best shown in Figure 1. Another spring 34 is secured to the bottom of the box and extends rearwardly and upwardly in a generally goose-neck curve and has an upper end portion secured to the body at 35, the socket member 21 being preferably used as a connecting means. The front end of the top 3| of the box is preferably provided with a projecting handle 31 extending through a slot 38 in the front wall of the box, whereby the top 3| may be vibrated to cause the puppet to dance instead of using the handle 28 for that purpose.

The various members of the puppet are loosely linked together by split celluloidal ring-like bands 40 or other suitable resilient material biased to cause their end portions 4| and 42 to overlap, as clearly shown in Figure 5. These rings are each manipulated through two of the slots in the abutting end portions of the cardboard members byforcibly separating the overlapping end portions to allow them to pass through the slots. They are adapted to yield under the light stress imposed by the vibrations of the puppet, and are also so loosely engaged in the slots as to permit the various members to swing in all directions when the foot pieces are being impacted upon the vibratory box cover 3!.

All of the parts of the pu pet and its handle 28 may be placed in the box 36 for storage or shipment. When assembled for shipment at the factory, a split cylinder 4011, provided with severance indicating marks 45, is inserted in the box to be severed by the user into the split rings 40. The box is long enough to receive all the members of the puppet. The puppet supporting spring 34 requires to be folded upon itself for insertion in the box, and preferably the foot pieces 23 are detached from the leg members [4 in order to require the purchaser or user to assemble them. The handle 31 may also be detached and placed in the box for shipment, this handle being connected with the box top 3|.

At the kindergarten or other place of use, children may be required to disassemble the puppet after each period of play and re-pack the various members in the box for storage, thereby making it possible to not only keep the puppet stored when not in use, but also familiarizin children with the erection of mechanical structures.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a box having a base, upstanding side and front walls, a top and an open back, the front wall being slotted, and the top being substantially at the level of the upper margins of the said walls, spring means connected with the base and extending upwardly at the back of the box and thence forwardly beneath the top and connected therewith, a handle connected with the top and projecting through the slot of the front wall, and a dancing puppet provided with a support extending upwardly from the base and through the open back, said puppet having flexible limbs and feet normally engaged by said top and from which said top is downwardly movable by said handle.

2. In a device of the character described the sub-combination comprising a dancing puppet having limbs comprisin flat sections comprising sheet stock provided with transversely elongated slots adjacent their ends and split transversely elongated collars passing through the slots at the contiguous ends of said sections and providing joints therebetween.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which each of said sections has two laterally spaced slots and is connected to a contiguous section by two laterally spaced collars.

HARRY N. ATWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

